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Lt. Jane Doe (episode)
Lt. Jane Doe is the fourth episode in NCIS Season 2 as well as the 27th episode of the entire NCIS series. Synopsis A sailor leaving the Norfolk Naval Base after being on a six-month deployment along with his buddy gets a shock when he finds the body of a young woman lying near a toilet area, prompting NCIS to investigate. The woman is dressed in the uniform of a Navy Lt. and it seems like a routine case except for the fact that the victim was never in the Navy. Upon discovering a mark on the victim, Ducky becomes distant after realizing the mark bears a striking resemblance to a victim whose death he investigated ten years ago. The team originally suspect that a man who served in the Navy is responsible but soon discover that someone else is the true killer... Prologue It's night-time at the Norfolk Naval Base. Seamen Tom Jennings and Joe Wilkins are busy driving off-base to a hotel where their girlfriends are waiting for them but the ride ends when Tom stops rather abruptly, stating that he's gotta go. Unsurprisingly, Joe's annoyed, stating that he's wondering why Tom can't hold it for twenty minutes but Tom who's already run off in search of a head/toilet tells Joe that he's not going to tell his girlfriend, Marci he's got to go to the bathroom first. Joe, on the other hand looks extremely annoyed. Tom reaches a toilet but finds that it's locked. Tom then runs away as Joe calls him to hurry with Tom promising not to shake it more than once. Tom then goes for the bleachers, using them as a makeshift toilet but as he's doing so, he turns around, getting the feeling that he's being watched and once he does, he jumps back in horror. It then cuts to show the body of a young woman wearing Navy clothing who's lying there. Act One In the squad-room, NCIS Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo Junior and Caitlin Todd are returning from an unnamed restaurant and as they get ready to eat their lunch, they discuss the possibility of Tony not returning a dollar and eighty-five cents to the woman who was working at the window of the restaurant. The topic eventually turns to karma with Kate telling Tony that whatever goes around comes around like a boomerang and she warns him that when his comes back, he'd better duck really low. "You don't have to duck if you don't believe", Tony says. "Believe what?", Timothy McGee asks, entering the bullpen, puzzled. Tony tells the younger Agent that it's kind of a private conversation. As McGee moves to sit down at his desk, Kate tells Tony that given the amount of bad karma he's had with women alone, she's surprised something hasn't fallen off. Tony then glances down, concerned just as Leroy Jethro Gibbs enters, asking DiNozzo if he's missing something. Gibbs's phone then rings and he grabs it. It's Dispatch informing him about a dead body of Norfolk. Gibbs hangs up and informs his team of the development before ordering them to get Ducky who Kate thought was flying to London. Gibbs then tells her that the plane doesn't leave for a few hours and as he prepares to leave, Tony asks him if he believes in karma. "I've had three wives, DiNozzo", Gibbs states. It then cuts to Kate who's on the phone, dialing Ducky's number as she grins at Tony who just as he gets ready to go accidentally spills his own drink onto his jeans much to his horror. Kate's no help, smugly stating that he should have driven back and McGee wants to know, "Driven back where?". Tony ignores the younger man's question and eventually, the four get into the lift where they soon arrive at Norfolk. With his team following him, Gibbs talks to Commander Reynolds (Lt. Jane Doe) in regards to the body and who discovered it with Reynolds telling that two seamen from the George Washington discovered the body and that they were driving off for two weeks leave, having returned from a six-month deployment in the Gulf. Reynolds then reveals that the two Seaman flagged down Petty Officer Cynthia Cluxton who was on patrol at the time. Cluxton gives Gibbs and Kate a description of what she did. After determining that the Lt. was dead, she searched for ID. Gibbs is annoyed that she touched the body but Cluxton insists that she was wearing gloves. As a result of this, Cluxton has compromised any physical evidence around the body but Kate lets the young Petty Officer continue, presumably eager to spare her from Gibbs's wrath. Cluxton reveals that after she found no ID, she called in her report, retraced her steps and marked her footprints before taping off a 20 yard perimeter. Gibbs wants to know how long it takes her to get here. Cluxton states that it's every hour on the 30 and that it was 2000 hours when she came on duty. She states that she didn't see anything unusual until Seaman Wilkins and Jennings flagged her down at 0132. When Gibbs orders DiNozzo to take their statements, Cluxton wonders why that should happen given that she already took the witnesses's statements. Gibbs then asks her if she minds if they take their own statements but Cluxton backs down, stating that she doesn't mind. Kate tells her she did a good job which has Cluxton thanking her. Once McGee arrives on scene, the two talk considering that they worked together before at Norfolk. Gibbs interrupts proceedings by threatening to have McGee returned to Norfolk permanently if he doesn't get to work. McGee obeys, promising to do some measuring and sketching before handing a kit over to Kate, presumably preferring his new job over his old one. Cluxton is then dismissed and leaves with Reynolds telling Gibbs that he needs to talk to the Commander, then the other man will be in his office. Then, it's just Gibbs and Kate at the crime scene with Kate taking photos as Gibbs scribbles down things. After a while, Kate starts wondering why Gibbs didn't thank Petty Officer Cluxton before realizing that Cluxton should have waited for the Medical Examiner before touching the body with Gibbs telling Kate, "That would have been doing a good job" before ordering her to keep shooting, ie, taking photographs. Donald Mallard and his temporary assistant, James Palmer arrive at the scene where Ducky reveals that he's going to London for a conference of The Society of Medical Examiners. Just when it looks like Ducky's going to start story-telling, Gibbs gets him back on track and as Ducky prepares to examine the body while remarking that he does have a plane to catch, Kate tells him that someday one of them will talk back. "The language of silence may be hard to hear, Caitlin", Ducky states "But unlike the living, when the dead speak, they do not lie". His first impressions are the bruises around the victim's neck and throat with Gibbs realizing that the victim was strangled. The bruising on the victim's thighs suggest that she might have been raped and Ducky announces that Doctor Gutterman can confirm that too. As Palmer gives Ducky the liver probe, Gibbs starts searching the body with Ducky telling Gibbs that he does usually ask. "Master of Arms (Cluxton) already searched the body, Duck", Gibbs replies. "I'm just double-checking". "I do wish they'd wait until I arrive", Ducky says. As all this goes on, DiNozzo arrives, having gathered statement from the two Seaman before asking Gibbs if he can let the two men go. Gibbs wants to know where they can found. DiNozzo tells him that they're a motel at Virginia Beach and that their girlfriends are waiting. Gibbs then gives him the okay and DiNozzo whistles, ordering the two to move along which they do rather quickly. Once they're gone, DiNozzo notes that the Seaman hadn't been with their girlfriends in six months, three weeks and eighteen hours before shuddering and then telling Kate that the longest he ever went was eleven days, six hours. "I can't believe you actually know these things", Kate states. "It's a gift", Tony assures her and then leaves. As he does, Kate begins examining the camera and takes a deep breath. Back at the body, Ducky's found that the victim's temp was 81.6 while Palmer's discovered the temperature was 73.1. When Gibbs asks for a time of death, Ducky confirms that it was sometime between 2300 and 0100 before announcing that he's got a plane to catch. McGee wants to know how long Ducky's going to be in London with Ducky telling him that it'll be three days. However, Ducky's good mood is ruined when Gibbs announces that there's no ID on the body and as such, the victim is to be called "Lt. Jane Doe". As Gibbs heads off, Ducky returns to the body and while no-one's looking, studies the victim's neck, finding something there. Palmer looks at him, waiting for something. Ducky then sharply announces that as soon as Gibbs is finished processing the area, they're going to get her back to the morgue. "Yes, Doctor", Palmer agrees. As Ducky leaves the scene, McGee's still asking about London but Ducky still wanders off in a daze, drawing some concern from the others, especially Kate and Gibbs. A while later, in the morgue, Palmer enters, only to find Ducky already in the middle of the autopsy. Ducky then tells him that it's the marvel of air-travel and that even if he misses one, there's still many more flights for him to choose. Palmer can't believe that Ducky began with him but Ducky snaps at him that given Palmer's his assistant, Ducky should start without him. Up in her lab, Abigail Sciuto is busy playing some games while slurping on some Caf-Pow. She answers the phone. It's Ducky who tells her that he's sending Palmer up and that Palmer's going to have some finger prints as well as blood and semen samples for her to run. Ducky then orders her to sign the evidence exchange forms and tells her that he will check. Abby then tells him she'll get down to it as soon as she's finished this explosives swabs analysis but Ducky, in a tone like Gibbs orders her to do it now before hanging up. Ducky then glares at Palmer, demanding to know why the young man's still there while Palmer wisely gets his act together and leaves the morgue, causing Ducky to shake his head. Ducky then turns the victim's head sideways and using a microscope of some kind, realizes that there's a trident craved in the left hand-side of her neck. He then puts it down and remarks to no-one, "You're back, aren't you? You bastard". It then cuts to Ducky who's standing in the room, alone, lost in thought while the Jane Doe's body lies on the table. Act Two In Abby's lab, while she lounges on a seat, relaxing, McGee's underneath, fixing up her computer when Gibbs comes in, demanding to know what's going on. McGee rambles on about computer terms and turns to Abby for help. She then tells Gibbs that McGee's helping with the search for Lt. Jane Doe's fingerprints in the AFIS Database and that she has to ID them fast to keep the hound at bay. "I'm more Jack Russell terrier", Gibbs announces. Abby tells him that it's Ducky and that he's been barking at her heels like a dog with mange. Gibbs then wonders what Ducky's still doing in the building and as soon as Abby's told him he's in the morgue, leaves, even jogging out the door. She yells after Gibbs that Ducky's so grouchy he'd give Gibbs a run for his money. "If I said that to Gibbs, I'd be seeing stars", McGee announces. "Well, that's the advantage of being me", Abby replies. "Now get back down there". McGee looks at Abby and she just smiles. Gibbs arrives the morgue but finds Palmer there who's just finished putting the victim away. Palmer then tells him that Ducky who has gone to Norfolk wouldn't even let him help with the autopsy and even remembers that Ducky checked everything over and over. As Gibbs leaves, Palmer silently voices that he thought that the reason was because he's inexperienced. Ducky goes to Norfolk to pick up sperm samples from an old case which he brings back the sample to NCIS so that he can determine if it's the same sample as the one he found inside Jane Doe. When Kate, Abby and McGee give Gibbs the unusual news that they haven't found anything matching the victim and that their usual searches have come up blank, Gibbs is furious, telling them that she's a Navy Lieutenant. To everyone's surprise, Ducky enters the bullpen and tells the team that she is not really a Navy Lieutenant because the poor woman in question was never even in the Navy at all. He then hands the samples to Abby, asking her to test them, adding a sad "Please" as well. Gibbs tells him that he's been holding out on them. Ducky agrees with that and heads back down to the morgue. As the team stare after him, Gibbs is now more determined than ever before to get answers in regards to Ducky's unusual behavior. In the morgue, Ducky pulls out a slab containing the dead woman's body. In his mind, he has a vision of her opening her eyes and turning to him. She then begs him to tell her family what happened to her but then Gibbs's voice interrupts proceedings and the victim has gone back to being dead although her head still remains in the same position it was while she was talking to Ducky. Ducky relents and shows Gibbs the trident mark on the victim's neck. Gibbs asks him if that's not the first mark he's seen before. Ducky replies no and goes on to say that he wasn't sure. He then tells Gibbs that he prefers relying on forensic science, not his gut. Gibbs is annoyed, saying that they're all team-members and that they shouldn't be holding out on each other. Ducky agrees and asks for Gibbs's forgiveness. After putting her body away, Gibbs puts his arm around Ducky and asks him for information. Ducky then begins telling him of a case that he had investigated ten years ago. It involved the discovery of the body of another young woman who had been found by a Navy corpsman while he was out jogging at the time outside an athletic field in Norfolk. The female victim had been raped and strangled before being dressed up to look like a Navy Lieutenant and there was also a trident carved on the side of her neck. They ran her fingerprints through the AFIS database and got nothing because she wasn't a member of the Navy. The profiler at the time believed that the killer had dressed her up as part of his revenge fantasy. Ducky gives Gibbs a thick file containing all the information of the previous case and while Ducky hangs up his coat, Gibbs looks through it, remarking that 1994 was the first time women were allowed on combat ships. When Gibbs asks him why it's so personal, Ducky while carrying a single box explains that he has been carrying the ashes of the dead Jane Doe for ten years. She is the only Jane Doe he never identified, the only one whose family had no closure and the only one who never went home. Abby rings with news that she's matched the two semen samples to one person and begins spinning around her chair, delighted with the news. Gibbs abruptly stops her celebration by telling her that it's from a ten-year old cold case and Ducky begs Gibbs not to let the killer escape again. It then cuts to Gibbs who just turns away, deeply conflicted. Act Three In the bullpen, Ducky with Gibbs also present now retells his story to McGee, Abby, Kate, and Tony and apologizes for his actions, saying it will never happen again. He then goes to inform them of the previous case he investigated ten years ago and says that they're looking for a serial rapist and murderer. Gibbs then tells them that 1994 was the first time women were allowed on ships and states his concern that the killer might be an enlisted man acting out a revenge fantasy. Abby realizes that something's off with the profile and voices her concern. Kate, having had profile training, agrees and looks at the two photos of the women before stating the fact that a Hispanic woman with brown hair and Anglo woman with blonde hair were both killed which in turn suggests that this doesn't fit a serial killer's profile. With everything coming together and his team having received new information, Gibbs gives them all new assignments: McGee is to search for JAG records for sailors imprisoned after October 1994 and recently released, Kate is to go through the folders of suspect interviews and re-question anyone still living in Norfolk while DiNozzo is tasked with showing a photo of the dead Jane Doe to every bar and strip-club in the Norfolk main gate area and Abby is to go over the evidence again and see if the forensics missed anything. Gibbs also asks her to pair with Ducky, telling her she'll need his help. At first, Abby disagrees, but Gibbs silently nudges her to look at Ducky, who's staring at the two photos of the murder victims and seems very dejected, presumably over his failure to solve the first case ten years ago. Abby catches on and gets Ducky to help with a problem she has with one of her equipment pieces in the lab. As they both leave, Gibbs smiles in amusement. Tony's interview with a bartender in a random and very smoky bar proves less than helpful as the guy is completely stoned and smoking a cigarette of some kind: he believes that the victim is either sleeping or meditating. Tony leaves the bar, unimpressed. Later, Cluxton finds a note from the killer left at the crime scene that says "I'm back". The note is similar to the one found at the crime scene of the first victim ten years prior. Gibbs orders her to bring it to NCIS HQ straightaway, shooting down the Commander's suggestion that they send it by the evening pouch by telling him that won't do. He then rings Abby to inform her of the latest development, and asking her to compare the ink, paper, and handwriting. In the lab, while Ducky works in the background, Abby tells him that she got DNA off the first note and that forensic testing was in the caveman era of 1994. Amused, Gibbs hangs up and Abby says that she's really good. Meanwhile, Kate tells him what she's found from her research. Gibbs interrogates Chief Petty Officer Ian Goetz, the person who found the first victim, but he has an alibi named Lt. Cdr William McDougal, revealing that Goetz is gay. Meanwhile McGee has found a suspect: machinist mate Harlan Wilson. Tony goes along with him and together, they investigate the last known place Wilson listed as his address. While there, Tony yet again suffers another karma mishap but gets himself together just in time to hear McGee say that someone's coming. They meet Tom Wilson who then informs them that Harlan, his kid brother is dead and has been for six weeks. It then cuts to DiNozzo and McGee stare at Tom Wilson for a few seconds before looking at each other, stunned. Act Four Gibbs returns to the room with a saliva swab to compare Ian Goetz's DNA to the others much to Kate's obvious disgust. Tony informs him that Harlan Wilson died from a heart attack and that McGee is still hanging onto the idea that he committed the crime. He then voices his amusement that "Probie" won't give up on the obvious. Losing patience, Gibbs then sends Tony out to go bar-hopping around the other gates of the base, and orders Kate to go with him. While they're at the lift, Petty Officer Cluxton arrives, carrying the second note found at the scene. Kate tells her she can get Gibbs at the rear elevator. As she heads off, Tony looks at her, seemingly interested. At a lesbian bar named Flip Side, the Female Bartender who talks to Tony and Kate identifies the woman as Janice Santos is taken aback and grief-stricken by the news that Santos is dead. She tells them that Santos hasn't been at the bar for the last three nights before going to get them Santos's address with Kate and Tony realizing that the Bartender took the news of Santos's murder pretty hard. In the lab, Abby analyzes the note that Cluxton brought, and questions McGee about their relationship at Norfolk. Once Cluxton's gone, Abby asks McGee if they're similarly formal while exchanging bodily fluids, leaving McGee completely aghast. Tony and Kate search Santos's apartment and after a quick glance, they find no personal effects, no items or no clothes belonging to her, suggesting that whoever killed her gave the place a good cleaning. Kate then quickly realizes what has happened and Tony says that they'd better call Gibbs. Gibbs then tells them that since Santos's apartment is clean, there's a good chance she might have known her killer. The next morning, with the team and Ducky having gathered in the lab, Abby reveals that she's matched Wilson's sperm to both victims. The only problem is Wilson had been dead for five weeks before the second victim was killed. When Gibbs glares at Tony, he squirms under the pressure and insists that he was dead before she was. McGee then comes up with the theory that Harlan's semen was inserted in the second victim after she was murdered. Kate is disgusted while Gibbs asks him how the killer got the sperm and Ducky joins in by holding up a tiny vital which means Janice's killer probably took some of Harlan's semen samples from Norfolk Storage Room. Up in the squad-room, a video of everyone in the Storage Room is playing on the plasma. McGee suddenly stops and says that she's the one with Tony wondering how McGee can tell since the woman's not near the refrigerator. "His gut", Gibbs replies. McGee states that it isn't just his gut and then states when they were back at Norfolk, that Cynthia or rather Petty Cluxton and McGee were friendly. "Really?", Abby wonders. "Abby!", Gibbs says warningly. McGee states that Cluxton liked him but not that way with Tony wondering what way would that be before Tony turns his head and grins. "I didn't ask, Tony", McGee states. "And she didn't tell". As Gibbs stares at McGee, the smile is finally wiped off Tony's face as he realizes that Cluxton is gay before telling Gibbs that they ID'd Santos at a lesbian bar. McGee then tells them that Cluxton's father was NCIS Special Agent Dawes, the very same man who investigated the first Jane Doe case with Ducky ten years ago. McGee replays the Norfolk Storage Room Security Tape, from the day before Janice was murdered. It reveals that Cluxton removed some semen samples from the storage room. A while later, Gibbs is soon interrogating Cluxton. He has figured that Santos and Cluxton were lovers and that they met at Flip Side, a lesbian bar. Behind the mirror and in Observation, Tony says that's why the bartender didn't respond to him as Kate gives him some gum which he accepts. She offers some to McGee but he shakes his head as they continue watching. Back in Interrogation, Cluxton acts all calm and business-like, insisting that she is completely innocent of the crime that Gibbs is accusing her of. When he tells her that she copied the original killer's M.O. and the fact that she left the note at the scene with the original crime being one of her father, former NCIS Special Agent Dawes's case files, she still argues that the accusations are untrue. When Gibbs confronts her with evidence revealing that the man she framed for the crime died five weeks before it was committed, Cluxton finally snaps, screaming "Damn!" in anger, finally revealing to everyone that she killed Janice Santos but seconds later, Cluxton is the picture of calm again, acting as if her outburst never happened although it hasn't changed anything. A few hours later, Ducky is in a ceremony, telling the still unidentified Jane Doe that it's time for their relationship to change and that it's time for her to go home although it's not the same but Ducky is sure that she'll find peace here. In the distance, a lone man emerges from the mausoleum. Ducky then approaches him and hands over the box containing the lone Jane Doe's ashes. The man then turns around and goes into the mausoleum. It then cuts to Ducky who walks down the path. Trivia *This is one of the only episodes of NCIS in which you can hear the voice on the other end of Gibbs's telephone call - in this case the call being from Dispatch informing him of a body or a DOA- (dead on arrival) at Norfolk. *At the end, Ducky, despite the team's help, still hasn't found the identity of the first Jane Doe whose case he investigated ten years previously before it went cold. *If you look just as Seaman Wilkins says, "What are you doing?" to his colleague, Seaman Jennings, you'll notice that Wilkins's lips haven't even moved at all, hinting that the sentence was probably recorded and played over Wilkins's shocked expression. *This episode is also the first one of the NCIS series to feature the now popular foof or "phoof", black and white teasers that usually last for three seconds. Cast Series Regulars ::::::::'Season Two Cast ' Recurring Cast Guest Cast Category:NCIS Episodes Category:NCIS Season 2 Episodes Category:NCIS Episodes written by Steven Long Mitchell Category:NCIS Episodes written by Craig W. Van Sickle Category:NCIS Episodes written by Donald P. Bellisario Category:NCIS Episodes written by Gil Grant Category:NCIS Episodes directed by Dan Lerner Category:NCIS Episodes featuring James Palmer